The UH African-American Studies Program celebrated Black History Month with film festivals and nationally recognized lecturers invited to spread awareness of the Africana experience.
‘It’s not only us providing speakers for the campus and community, we’re also allowing our students to participate and hear discussions about the African-American experience around the country,’ AAS assistant director Malachi Crawford said.
Guest experts invited to speak on the Africana experience and history include Oscar Williams from the State University of New York at Albany and Robert Weems from the University of Missouri.
In addition to the lecture series, the program hosted a film festival every Friday of February, the last of which will be held at noon today in Room 628, Agnes Arnold Hall.
UH Ankh Maat Wedjau Honor Society students and AAS minors have also spent the month preparing their annual trip to the Model African Union conference.
The National Council for Black Studies, a major professional organization for the African-American Studies discipline, holds the annual conference in March. Hosted by Howard University in Washington, D.C., the conference gives students an opportunity to network with other university students from across the nation.
However, conference trips and film festivals are not the only opportunities the AAS program provides to fully experience the discipline of African-American studies.
Each summer, students have a chance to participate in a two-week trip to Ghana as part of the AAS curriculum.
‘We travel around the country, learn about the culture and history of Ghana, and our students have a wonderful time,’ AAS program manager Paul Easterling said. ‘ It’s a six (credit) hour, 5-week course and is also offered to anyone who wants to participate.’
The AAS program pays for about two-thirds of the expenses, Crawford said, but students are asked to contribute to guarantee a seat on the trip.’
Last summer, AAS minor senior Tamara Spiller participated in the Ghana trip.
‘We backpacked through six cities in Ghana and were able to speak with the natives and visited W.E.B. Du Bois’ memorial site,’ Spiller said. ‘We also went to the river where the slaves took their last bath, literally for six months, before coming to America.’
Spiller said learning about her heritage is important to a strong foundation and that it has increased her awareness of her ancestry.’
‘As an adolescent, I never knew anything about black people, but now, I get a personal satisfaction that I know where I come from. And I actually feel lied or cheated in some way after learning all this (history),’ Spiller said. ‘How could I be proud of my heritage if I don’t know what it is or only know some of it?’
Faculty and staff strongly emphasize students to partake in the Ghana trip.
‘We read about African and African-American history all the time, but going to Ghana and seeing the history and living the history there,’ Easterling said. ‘Our students are able to put their experiences in a lot better context.’
Easterling said the AAS program prioritizes student retention and graduation by making sure student needs are well taken care of.
‘We’ve done a number of good things,’ Crawford said. ‘Last year, this program received the Sankore Award from the National Council for Black Studies, and the Sankore Award recognizes the top academic unit in the field of Africana studies in terms of research output, community involvement and student service.’
AAS is offered as a minor at UH, but is anticipated in becoming a degree granting academic unit in the fall 2009 semester, Crawford said.
Although the AAS program has seen an increase in non-African-American students, Spiller believes ethnic contributions are not highlighted enough in schools and the media.
‘Black history is important to everyone because we helped build this country, but also contributions made by people from Indian or Chinese descent (and other ethnicities) should also be publicized more, so no one feels superior or inferior to anyone,’ Spiller said. ‘We’re a melting pot, so everyone’s contributions should be publicized.’
